It was originally written for Johnny Cash, but Denver got it instead. It performed on both the pop and country charts in 1971, though it did better on the former (#2). Denver straddled the folk and country line. Both thematically and musically, this is one of his most country songs. There’s even pedal steel guitar in the recording.

Thanks for showing this. Kevin, you said somewhere: “Jesus + country music” Got me thinking. What if Karl Barth had been a fan of country & blue grass music, instead of Mozart? How would this have affected his theology? Maybe Church Dogmatics could have been shorter and more concise? Since he’d be going to blue grass concerts and not having as much time to write? 😉 Just thinking out loud.

Ha, yes, I actually think that Barth’s comments on Mozart could apply to country / bluegrass. Barth loved Mozart’s simple joy in being alive. Mozart doesn’t impose himself on the composition but, rather, allows the fullness of “being” come through. Just like Merle Haggard.🙂

As such, even the suffering in songs like Haggard’s “Mama’s Hungry Eyes” is not morose or indulgent, as I have said elsewhere. It is actually life-affirming.